Chafing
by Zelgadis55
Summary: Raph and Leo are at it yet again but when Mikey and Donnie urgently need their help, will they be able to get it together in time to save their siblings? 2k3 style fic written for JunkeyTurtle. Word count 4,086. Comments, thoughts and concrit always welcome.


Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Summary: Raph and Leo are at it yet again but when Mikey and Donnie urgently need their help, will they be able to get it together in time to save their siblings? 2k3 style fic written for JunkeyTurtle (on DA) Word count 4,086. Comments, thoughts and concrit always welcome.

JunkeyTurtle asked for:  
Just a simple 2k3 style story. Like, you know, Raph sometimes hates how Leo acts as a leader, and he feels the other one is bossing around, and he had this confidence he can be better than Leo, and he tries to impress their younger brothers, but he starts annoying Leo, and so they both fail? The main idea is that they argue about nonsense again, and then they fail xD

He also supplied a link to the picture used as the cover for a situation to aim for, though I was under no obligation to use that specific scenario. Please go show your love to the original. Link can be found on my profile.

I tried and came as close to the request as I could. I hope you enjoy this story :-)

* * *

 **Chafing**

Mikey sighed despondently as he approached the lair's hidden entrance. He'd left to go skating hours ago, desperate to get away from the unpleasant atmosphere created by brothers who argued practically non-stop and his time away had lifted his mood right back up. Returning home was another story however as the heavy, oppressive feeling returned in full force like it had never left. Mikey stepped inside and dropped his skateboard into the rack by the door; Donnie had placed it there recently in an effort to encourage Mikey from simply dropping his board anywhere for anyone to trip upon. He closed the door behind him and reluctantly walked inside, cringing at the shouts and fierce words emanating from deep within their home.

There was no need to sneak back in, the shouting saw to that; he'd left without a word but he very much doubted anyone had even noticed he'd left in the first place. For a moment, sick of it all, Mikey was tempted to just turn around and leave again but really, this was his home too! He had as much right to be comfortable here as the next turtle so instead, he made a beeline for Donatello's lab.

Turning the knob, Mikey groaned. Donnie had locked the door again; a sure sign that the genius was also fed up and didn't wish to be disturbed. Though the way Mikey saw things, if he had to be disturbed he sure as shell wasn't going to be alone, he was bringing Donnie down with him! Pulling out his lock picks, Mikey quickly set to work, popping the lock far faster than his brothers knew he was actually capable of.

Stepping inside, Mikey closed and relocked the door behind him before turning to see Donnie staring accusingly at him. His brother's expression said it all.

"The door was locked for a reason, Michelangelo."

"You know full well that that lame lock'll never keep a ninja out, bro," Mikey pointed out, ignoring his brother's hint and instead pulling up a chair beside him. He floped down into it glumly. "They been arguing all this time, Donnie?"

Donnie sighed and leaned wearily back into his own seat. "They haven't let up since training ended," he replied, rubbing his temples tiredly. "You know, I designed that door to be nearly soundproof."

"Yeah," Mikey snickered, "so you wouldn't hear Raphie trying to kill me every time I annoy him."

"Right," Donnie said wryly, "nevertheless, their fighting's been coming though most of the day."

Mikey winced sympathetically, glad once more that he'd left for a few hours. "You know bro, it's so bad I could hear it half a mile from the lair."

Donatello just stared in wordless disbelief.

Mikey chuckled, "Okay, okay, that's definitely an exaggeration but I'm serious dude, I really could hear it a few yards away from the lair."

"Hmm, that is a problem then. Telling them that might stop them for a while but sooner or later, Raph would undoubtedly draw Leo back into the arguing or Leo would criticise Raph, making them start all over again."

"Yeah..." Mikey nodded and the two sat in a silence only marred by the continuing angry sounds from outside the sealed room. After a few minutes Mikey looked up at his brother, an unusually serious focus in his expression. "We've gotta do something about this Donnie."

-:-

Leo put away his shell-cell, sick to his stomach with worry at the fear he'd heard from Donnie on the other end of the line. From what little had been said, Donnie and Mikey were in trouble and needed his and Raph's help urgently.

"Raph! We're going, _now_ ," Leo called loudly, rushing into the weights room his brother was working out in. Raph looked up at him, intense annoyance evident throughout his body. "Don and Mike are in trouble out at tunnel 79C. We'll take the sewer slider." he commanded stiffly, already moving towards the required exit.

Raph's face twisted. Naturally he was worried about his less aggressive siblings but Leo's cold, commanding attitude automatically stirred his ire. "I'm not your toy soldier, Leo so don't talk to me like one!" he snapped, already moving to grab his weapons from the nearby bench. He pushed past and ran ahead of his brother.

Reaching the slider closest to the exit, Raph quickly jumped up to the steering wheel and turned on the ignition, only to find himself shoved none to gently to the side as Leo took his place.

"What the shell, Leo?" Raph bristled. If it weren't a matter of life and death he would have immediately put Leo back in his place for that stunt. "Our bros lives could be at stake and you take the time ta knock me from the wheel? We could have been movin' sooner if ya weren't such a damned control freak!"

"You drive way too recklessly," Leo replied coolly, justifying his actions. "I would much rather get there in time to help, not have an accident on the way."

"An' you drive like an ol' gramma who never learnt ta drive!" Raph spat venomously.

"I'm _sick_ of you constantly defying me and putting me down!" Leo snapped back as he drove. "I'm the leader, I know what's best for our team!"

Raphael snarled in disbelief, copping a small amount of spray from the fetid waters as they travelled around a bend, " _Our_ team? That's rich! You treat us like your own private army, expectin' us to hop to and refusin' to listen when one of us may have a better idea! You used to be better than this Leo but the way you're goin' lately, even Mikey'd be a better leader on his _worst_ day!"

Leo grit his teeth as his knuckles tightened their grip on the steering. "I do not treat any of you like that, Raphael," he replied hotly. "You're only chafing because Master Splinter left _me_ in charge while he went away and it's been too cold for any of us to go topside!"

"Yeah," Raph sneered, "you keep makin' your lame excuses Leo and keep right on dictatin' to the rest of us how to live! You're only leader out there so stop tryin' to run our _lives_ too!"

Beginning to seethe again at the vitriol spewing from his brother's mouth, Leo opened his mouth to retort when a sudden sputtering from the motor caught his attention. He stared down in shock as their vehicle's highly maintained engine ground to a halt and and the forward propulsion slowed to a drift. Leo tried the ignition but it only made a sick whirring noise and his gaze drifted over the instrument panel before widening in dismay when he noticed the fuel gauge mocking him.

"What happened?"

"The tank's empty," Leo replied numbly.

"That can't be!"

"Of all the irresponsible!" Leo whirled on Raph, consumed by worry and what this meant for their brothers, "It's _your_ duty to refuel our vehicles after use so they're _always_ ready to go at a moment's notice!"

"An' I always do it!"

"Really?" Leo leaned forward before breathing deeply to curb his own anger. "From here it looks like you don't take your duty very seriously, Raphael! And you wonder why I'm always on your shell about things!"

Raph fumed.

"This is just further proof how much you _need_ to be led!"

Raphael couldn't help but bark a derisive laugh, "An' if you were such a good leader, maybe you should have followed up on me, made sure I did my job but then you woulda _seen_ me refuel the freakin' sliders after we used them _last_ _week_!"

"If you did your job then why did we run out of gas less than halfway to 79C?"

"I don't freakin' know, Leo but while you stand here and work it out, I'm goin' back for the other slider!" Raph snapped before jumping to the nearby solid ground.

Leonardo straightened with determination, "No, Raph. We will just keep going on foot."

Raph glared back at Leo in disbelief.

"We're nearly halfway along the water route. By the time you fetch the other slider and return we could be almost there anyway. Especially if you need to stop and refuel the other one too!"

"I already _told_ you Leo, I refuelled last week!"

"And yet here we are," Leo stated coldly as he waved his hand at the dead water vehicle.

Leo jumped down beside Raph and began running, ignoring Raph in favour of focusing on reaching their distressed brothers.

As he ran, Raph glared mutinously at the back of Leo's shell, recognising that now was not the time for arguments and recriminations. Instead, he kept silent pace, hoping they would reach Mikey and Donnie before it was too late.

-:-

For a good nearly half hour, the two worried brothers ran full pelt in uncomfortable silence before running into minor trouble. A small group of sewer workers had just descended from a manhole and both turtles moved in tandem towards the nearest viable hiding space. Discovering the nook they found was small, Leo made sure to push Raph in first and then pressed close behind, hoping the workers headed their way would not notice their presence.

As the humans wandered past searching the piping all around, the two turtles stilled their breathing and impatient jolting. Finally, as things were beginning to look bad, a voice called out to the rest and the nearby workers quickened their pace as they headed to help their workmate.

After an interminably long wait, Leo breathed deeply, "It's safe now but keep quiet, they're still nearby."

Bristling at the reminder, Raph elbowed Leo hard, practically pushing him out of his face. "Don't need to tell me that Leo, I'm not Mikey! Now get out and give me room to move!"

"Wouldn't need to remind you if you hadn't been jostling and making so much noise!"

"Would've been able to keep still if someone had left me room to actually _breathe_!"

Leo was about to respond when he suddenly remembered the desperate tone of Donatello's earlier call. "We don't have time for this, get moving!"

Chafing at Leo's tone but knowing he was right, Raph followed at Leo's heels as they continued towards their brothers with the alarming sense that they were running out of time.

-:-

Not long later, the two agitated mutants came across a split in the path, one route relatively clear and the other filled with chunks of debris. Leo glanced wistfully to the debris filled path but without skipping a beat turned automatically into the clear tunnel. Raph's jaw dropped and he skidded to a halt.

"Where the shell do ya think you're goin', Fearless?" he asked, incredulity filling his voice. "79C's _that_ way!" Raph gestured wildly to the treacherous route.

Leo stopped and half turned, "This tunnel leads there too."

"Yeah an' it takes about twenty minutes longer! 79C is only a few minutes away this way."

The leader in blue heaved a sigh of the long suffering, "That path is too dangerous. We are liable to get hurt or killed taking that route and then who will help Don and Mike?" Leo turned as if to start running once more.

"They need us _now,_ not later!"

"Raphael..."

"Never thought I'd actually see the day where Fearless Leader would turn coward!" Raph spat angrily. "Fine! You go your way, I'm goin' mine! They'll be more impressed with help that gets to them _in time!_ "

With that, Raph took off down the far more dangerous tunnel, easily dodging and sidestepping scattered rubble as he ran.

"Raph!" Leo shouted after him. "Raphael, _wait_!" Leo sighed once more. They hadn't used the tunnel in years, ever since Stockman's MOUSERs destroyed so much of it so long ago. Over time, they had cleared many of the other tunnels and even shored up some of the damage but not in that one... That one hadn't been worth the effort or the risk. Since Raphael showed no sign of listening, Leo threw caution to the wind and ran after his wayward sibling.

Bad enough that two brothers were in trouble. Leo didn't want for a third to be...

-:-

It wasn't long before Leo caught up to Raph but stopping him was another issue.

Raphael stood at the edge of a precipice; a rather wide downpipe that years ago was covered by an old, rusting grate. That had however been long destroyed when damage caused by MOUSERs lead to chunks of masonry falling from above and destroying it. Someone had since placed a wooden, makeshift bridge across the top but it was only ever meant for temporary use. It was long rotten now and Leo had serious concerns about its ability to hold their weight. Unfortunately, simply taking a running leap over the top was not an option either as what was left of the ceiling above was too low. Neither was using shuko spikes on the crumbling walls or ceiling an option either. The whole area was far too dangerous.

"Now you see why we needed to take the other route, Raph," Leo began somewhat gently, reaching up a hand to his brother's shoulder.

Raph shrugged it off and glared ahead, unwilling to admit that Leo was right. They were so close to the last known location of their brothers, yet so far. He reached out a foot as if to test the bridge but as common sense prevailed and he began to draw back, hot shot leader just had to open his big mouth once more.

Noticing the movement of Raph's foot, Leo lost his patience, "Oh for the... Raphael! Stop wasting time! Our brothers _need_ us!" He reached out to grab Raph's arm and pull him back when Raph snarled furiously.

"I'm not the one wastin' time, _you_ are!" and then Raph stepped out onto the bridge and for a moment time seemed to freeze.

Raphael took a step and then another and another and suddenly time resumed its normal speed as Leonardo heard a loud splintering crack. Leo's eyes went wide and he reached forward on instinct for his brother, grabbing the edge of his carapace and attempting to pull him back to safety.

But it was too late and the bridge beneath Raph's feet collapsed and Leo was pulled down after him.

-:-

Seconds later, Raph and Leo, limbs entangled and pressed against each other uncomfortably, breathed harshly with the combination of sudden shock and exertion as they fought desperately to keep from sliding further down to possible oblivion.

The walls were slippery and even releasing a single hand from them to take a shuko spike risked them taking an unwelcome plunge.

"You alright?"

"Yeah... you?"

"I'll live."

The two began to slip again and they scrambled to press all the harder into both each other and the walls, halting their descent.

After a few minutes, Leonardo spoke up, voice accusing, "If you had followed my lead, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Raphael's face twisted with disbelief, "You seriously gotta bring this up _right_ _now?_ It couldn'ta waited 'til later? _Screw you, Leo!_ If you listened to others sometimes then _maybe_ this wouldn'ta happened!"

"So now this is _my_ fault?"

"You're the leader!" Raph spat.

"Oh so _now_ you choose to notice?"

"How could I not? Ya lord it over me all the damned time, Leo! Don't leave the lair! Don't do this! Do that! You're the leader topside and in a fight but you don't have the right to rule over my personal life!"

"If you had better control over your temper and didn't continually do stu..." Leo abruptly stopped speaking and sighed, causing Raph to give him a sharp look. When Leo continued, his tone was softer than at any time in days, perhaps even weeks and full of self recrimination. "What are we doing?"

"Wha..."

"Our brothers are in trouble, possibly hurt or worse by now and we're just sitting here continuing to fight like idiots..."

Raph froze, his own concern reasserting itself as he realised Leo was right. "We need to get outta this."

"I can't really see your position right now, Raph. Is there any way at all you can reach either of our shell-cells?" Leo asked.

"We can't call Mikey or Don," Raph all but exploded. "Might make things worse for 'em!"

"I was thinking of Casey," Leo pointed out dryly.

"Oh... well can't anyway. I move a hand from the wall and we're goners," Raph replied reluctantly. "You'd have a better chance of reachin' as long as ya don't overbalance us."

"I'll try but my position is precarious enough as it is."

"It's our only chance, Fearless."

Leo began to move, inching his hand towards his shell-cell ever so slowly but he kept having to stop as his position became increasingly unstable. He was determined though and steadfastly refused to just give up; all their lives depended on his success.

All of a sudden, the ambient light in the downpipe increased drastically and Leo became aware of voices shouting, calling their names. He managed to tilt his head enough to make out Mikey and Donnie peering down at them from the edge of the precipice.

"Leo? Raphie? You dudes okay?" Mikey yelled worriedly.

"We're okay! Relieved to see you though!" Leo called back up, his mind eased seeing his brothers safe.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Donnie's voice echoed down in concern. "You don't have any injuries, do you?"

"Only to our pride," Leo reassured as Raph grumbled behind him.

"Oh good!" Donnie replied, tone full of relief, "In that case..."

Both Donnie and Mikey cracked up laughing, the latter unable to even remain standing straight in his mirth.

-:-

Mikey continued occasionally breaking into small giggle fits as he helped Donnie pull Raph up over the edge and to safety where Leo waited anxiously.

"What the shell are you laughin' about, Numbnuts? We coulda died!" Raph snapped irritably, covering up the intense embarrassment he felt at having to be rescued by the very brothers he had set out to save.

Mikey wiped a couple of stray tears of laughter from the corner of his eyes, "Sorry bro, you just had to see it from up here to appreciate how hilarious that looked. Besides, you're ninja, you weren't gonna die! We made sure of that!"

Leo's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion and he immediately turned his head towards Mikey. "Did you call us out as some sort of prank, Michelangelo?"

Mikey stepped back, grinning sheepishly at Leo, "Um... maybe?"

"You used a _fake_ emergency to lure us into a _dangerous_ situation?"

Raph's blood began to boil at the implications but he held himself back, wanting to hear the explanation first.

"Well, technically Donnie lured you."

"Thanks Mikey," Donnie said dryly. "It was all Mikey's idea though, credit where credit's due and all that."

"Eh heh..."

Leo's gaze bored into Donatello's. "Sadly I could expect this kind of stupid stunt from him, but from _you_ Don? You're supposed to be the intelligent brother! What on earth possessed you to go along with this and cry emergency to get us here?"

Donnie straightened up, all remaining traces of humour suddenly vanished, "I never said it was an emergency Leo, I said it was urgent. There is a distinct difference."

"Semantics!"

"Would you both have come if I had not?"

Leo and Raph looked at each other.

"I rest my case."

"Then what was so 'urgent'?" Raph air quoted. He wasn't sure how he managed to avoid pounding the turtles who cried wolf already.

Donnie smiled nervously, "We wanted to build a new bridge over the downpipe so that we would be able to use this path again and since it was a four turtle job, we called you," he explained. "When you took too long to turn up, I knew that Mikey was actually right and that you had come this way after all."

"We would have been here much sooner if Raphael had done his job and refuelled the sewer sliders since we used them last."

Incensed, Raph whirled on Leo snarling, "I told you Leo that..." he broke off at the sound of Mikey's snickering.

"Nuh bro, we siphoned those."

Raph glared, "You _what_?"

"Wait..." Leo said slowly, staring at Donatello, "you said Mikey _knew_ we would come this way."

"Heh! More like knew the hothead would and you'd follow to stop him!" Mikey crowed.

"You actually _wanted_ us to cross that and _fall_?" Right at that moment, Leo wholeheartedly understood Raph's frequent anger at their mischievous brother. It was taking all his self control not to fly off the handle himself. He didn't know how Raph was currently holding it together, maybe he had better control than Leo thought after all.

"We didn't want you to fall, Leo," Mikey quickly sobered and said patiently. "We _wanted_ you both to see you _need_ to stop fighting so much and work _together!_ We _hoped_ you'd be able to take the safe path but with the way you've both been lately, we expected you to end up down there..." he glanced back at the downpipe.

"We're meant to be a team guys," Donnie added quietly.

" _We could have fallen to our deaths!_ "

"Nuh uh!" Mikey interjected, attracting Raph and Leo's ire towards him once more. "We rigged some nets down there. If you slipped just a few more feet you would have hit the first of them."

"At the bottom net, you would have found some pitons and rope to climb back out again but only enough for if you worked _together_ ," Donnie added in a calm, reassuring voice.

Leo tore his accusing gaze from Donnie and back to Mikey, the one who had managed to convince their sensible brother to participate in such a stupid act. " _And what would you have done if something went wrong, Mikey?_ " Leo cried in disbelief. "I can't believe even _you_ would be that thoughtless!"

"That's why I had Donnie help, so that _nothing_ would go wrong," Mikey said quietly. "Besides, you're Fearless Leader who _always_ has a plan Leo and you're big, strong Raphie who never gives up, no matter what!" Mikey pointed out, looking from one to the other.

"Fighting with each other the way you have been lately, you guys _suck_ but as a _team_ you're the best and I'd hate to go up against you."

Leonardo and Raphael looked at each other in a combination of shame and anger as they contemplated their brother's words. Abruptly, an understanding passed between the two and they nodded in unison before standing and staring at a suddenly gulping Michelangelo and Donatello.

Raph cracked his knuckles, sending a shiver down Mikey's spine.

"Yeah, you'd better run!"

-:-

Raphael settled comfortably on the ground next to Leonardo and placed a piping hot box of pizza between them. He handed his brother a soda before taking a slice of the food and inhaling the scent appreciatively.

"How's the camera goin', Fearless?" he asked companionably.

Leo calmly placed down his can and glanced to the side, "It's recording beautifully, Raph," he answered clearly. Clearly enough to be easily overheard by their dangling, resident menaces.

Mikey and Donnie hung upside down over a pool of mostly water, a few metres from each other. Their feet were tied with a short rope to a low hanging pipe, with a longer rope leading from one turtle's feet to the other's hands. Their hands were tied loosely enough that they could work themselves free if they really wanted to but the consequences of that would cause the rope leading to the slip knot at the other's feet to loosen, resulting in an impromptu bath in cold, fetid water for first one, then the other.

"You guys were right, you know," Raph called with a smirk, "working together as a team is definitely the way ta go!"

Leo chuckled and took a slice of pizza, "Just think of this as a 'team building exercise'."

Owari

* * *

A:N: (copied from my journal on Deviant Art)

My, How Time Flies!

You know something?

If you count the really crappy first TMNT story I wrote, I've been actively contributing to the fandom for just over a year now! If you don't count that (which I don't really want to) another few days and I will have been actively contributing to the fandom for a year! XD

Thank you to everyone who has made me feel welcome and those that inspired me to (literally) put pen to paper once more! :-)

BTW: For those following 'AOtGO', yes, I'm back! The next chapter should be out around next weekend! :-)


End file.
